Curry plant, Murraya koenigii L.: An indigenous spice plant with versatile medicinal property: A minireview

Abstract

This communication states the biological activities, phytochemical spectrum, medicinal properties, and nutritional potentiality of curry plant, Murraya koenigii L. (Family: Rutaceae). The M. koenigii is a valued dietary plant used as spice since the ancient times for its characteristic aroma, and in medicine because of its possession of several bioactive compounds with health promoting properties. Curry leaves are rich source of natural antioxidant substances such as tocopherol, β‑carotene, lutein, flavonoids, and phenolics. The extracts and essential oil of the plant exhibit antibacterial and antifungal activities. The curry leaves possess potential anticancer activities because of their strong antioxidative properties in various systems. The nutritional potentiality contained in the plant includes minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, and fatty acids. Additional information on the bioactive components in M. koenigii will help evaluate the health benefits from this functional food plant, and thus, this review updates the facts and phenomena related to the bioactive compounds in curry plant along with their biological activities, due to the web‑based search on the topic in SCI and non‑SCI journals.